Ace's Brothers
by FawnTheFox
Summary: Things are not going too well for Marco. His crew is falling apart and the Whitebeard legacy is crumbling before him. It seems like they face one defeat after another these days. That is until he meets an unlikely pair of brothers and gets a new perspective.


**Hey! This was supposed to be a new Defenders without Fear but it kind of turned into this instead. I'm in collage now so I am crazy CRAZY busy but I will keep trying to put out chapters. Anyways this fic contains some spoilers from Dress Rosa arc onwards so if you don't want it ruined please don't read it!**

 **.**

Marco sighed as he leaned against a wall. Today did not go well for them. Morale was low amongst the crew there was no denying that. Unfortunately his own morale was far too scarce to offer any real help. Since their crippling defeat in the war two years ago it had been one disappointment after another. After Oyaji lost his life responsibilities shifted to an unwilling Marco. Although he did his best out of loyalty to his pirate family it was obvious to everyone he never wanted this position. Oyaji was a big man with even larger shoes to fill. Something Marco hadn't even bothered to try. Instead he stayed with the closer of his kin while the more distant ones broke off only weak alliances keeping them together now. He understood and encouraged his siblings need to deal with this in their own way but at the same time he resented that it was something he hadn't been able to do. For the most part he tried to ignore this lack of spirit but it seemed to be getting in the way. For a once unbeatable crew they had fallen a long ways. It seemed like they could no longer win even the simplest of fights.

He couldn't suppress the sigh as he heard his siblings bickering drift over to him. So much for a little peace and quiet. It sounded like Haruta and Izo were going at it again. Seriously what was with those two lately he would leave them alone for a minute and they would pick a fight. That's not how brothers were supposed to behave.

He could hear a happier set of voices from the street float over to him. Or at the very least they weren't arguing and that was something new.

"So then I ate the entire shop!"

That caught Marco's attention as he raised his eyebrow. Had he heard wrong or did that kid just say he ate a shop.

"Are you serious? How did you manage that?"

"It was made of chocolate." The other voice laughed. "It was so good I couldn't stop"

What the heck? What an odd conversation. What kind of shop was made out of candy?

"Was the owner mad?"

"No she was really nice. She forgave me when I said her house tasted nice."

Scratch that thought. This was the oddest conversation he had heard. And his siblings had some pretty strange ones.

Marco looked up as his siblings gathered around him, stopping their argument long enough to give him a brief overview. He however was only half listening as he partially focused on the other conversation finding it much more interesting.

"Remind me not to ask what you've been up to lately." The person said with a laugh. "Sounds like you've been up to all sorts of trouble Luffy?"

Marco who had only been partially paying attention shot up surprising his siblings.

"What is it?" Izo asked only to be met by silence.

Was he going insane or did that person say Luffy. As in the kid Ace never shut up about. The very same kid who just beat Doflamingo. It wasn't a very common name either. He pushed himself way from the wall setting off down the alleyway hardly noticing as his confused crew followed.

"But it was worth it because my crew is finally back together."

"You mean there's more?"

"You only met half!" The other voice said defiantly.

"Well you know what they say…small captain small crew." Marco could hear the tone fighting to stay serious, laughter threatening to break through. As he got closer the voices got louder and clearer.

Unaware he was being messed with the tone became defensive. "One day I'll grow super tall way taller then you! And then you will have to hope I don't accidently step on you."

"I'll take my chances." The voice said amused.

Marco emerged onto the street trying his best to pick the conversation out of the dozen others. He scanned the crowed a flash of red catching his eye.

There separate from the throngs of people were two figures. One dressed in dark clothes and a top hat was leaning casually against a wall. The other was shorter with a familiar straw hat. He was sitting cross legged fully immersed in the others company.

"What the heck Marco? Where are you going?" Vista asked panting as the rest caught up. "It's time for dinner."

At the mention of food the black haired boy perked up, seemingly having his own sound filter for food. His dark eyes locked onto Marco's as he tilted his head curiously.

"Straw Hat Luffy?" Marco asked already knowing the answer. Still he wasn't sure how their sudden appearance would be received. Their meeting had been less than ideal. Despite them saving his life he doubted Luffy was aware of most of it even happening. Not that he expected gratitude or anything. Still anything but hostility would be a welcomed change.

The boy stared at him for a second longer before a huge smile broke out across his face surprising Marco.

"It's you!" He said happily as if they were old friends instead of complete strangers.

"Wait what!" Izo said in surprise from besides him. "Why does that sound familiar?"

The top hatted young man shifted in order to look over his shoulder at Marco. He sized the pirates up with a sweep of his gaze keeping his stance curious but not nearly as welcoming as his friend.

"It's Ace's little brother," Marco told his confused crew. "We met him during the war."

"Oh!" Izo said stupidly, repeatedly switching his gaze back and forth from Marco to the teen as if waiting for Marco to tell him it was a joke. "Seriously?"

"That was you?" Haruta asked in surprise, speaking on behalf of the other equally shocked crew mates. "You were so serious then!"

Marco could agree on that one. During the war Luffy was stone cold, serious and angry. Nothing like the kid Ace had described. Understandably so. Still It had caught him off guard. This laughing smiling teenager felt much more familiar then the seventeen year old he met during war time.

The teen pouted at that obviously not liking the memories it dragged up. "You were serious too!" He reminded them. "And it's just Luffy! If you say the whole thing it sounds like you are trying to kill me."

"What?" Asked Marco quickly losing the train of thought.

"He means his name," The top hatted young man told him. He titled his head to Luffy silently asking him who they were.

"Their Ace's crew mates." Luffy told him with a smile. "This is our other brother Sabo."

Marco blinked in surprise as the words registered. Wait what? Ace had another brother. This was the first time he was hearing about this. Although to be fair he could swear the name Sabo sounded familiar. Why was he thinking of a girlfriend?

Beside him his crew was having an equally hard time grasping the concept.

"You sure?"

Luffy frowned like they were stupid. "Yep but Ace only talked about him when he got really drunk."

"Well that's good to know." Sabo said dryly as if imagining all the drunken things said about him.

That's why it sounded familiar! The gears clicked into place in Marco's brain. Ace had mentioned him when he was drunk. But by that point he was pretty incoherent so he never made a whole lot of sense.

"I thought you were his ex-girlfriend or something." He said honestly watching in amusement as Sabo's eyes narrowed. "He kept saying that you left."

Luffy laughed at this holding his stomach as his brother shook his head in disapproval.

Unsatisfied with the limited knowledge as well as the new revolution Izo burst out, "Do you have any other siblings we don't know about?" Clearly he was feeling a little hurt by the fact Ace had never so much mentioned Sabo to them. No doubt the others were as well.

While Marco understood the sentiment he honestly thought they were overthinking this. Ace was a very private person, he rarely shared anything from his past. Aside from whatever shenanigans Luffy was up to in the news. There must have been a good reason for Ace not to tell them about Sabo. Probably the same reason he only talked about it when he got drunk. It was a reason that Marco wouldn't even try to guess as he had quickly learned nothing that hothead did was predictable.

"It's just us," Luffy said cheerily. Unknowingly conveying a double message.

"So all three of you are pirates!" Juzo asked.

"I'm not a pirate," Sabo said with a frown as he tipped his top hat forwards in a partial polite gesture.

"So what are you?"

A small trained smile appeared at that. "Mmm, I wonder."

"You should become a pirate," Luffy told him. "Pirates are the coolest."

"So you've been saying since you were seven," Sabo told him rolling his eyes. His smile was genuine this time as he addressed the younger teen.

"It's true!" Luffy insisted. "Pirates can do whatever they want!"

"You've always done whatever you wanted," Sabo reminded him.

"What? Nah-uh." Luffy argued. "It was all 'Don't jump into the river Luffy. Don't pick a fight with that thing Luffy, Don't eat that!"

Marco would have laughed if Luffy didn't look so serious. Those sounded like perfectly normal things for people to say especially to him. Despite their brief interaction in the past Marco had seen first-hand how much he worried Ace in the stunts he had pulled that day.

"It was me and Ace who told you that," Sabo told him dryly. "And you didn't listen either way."

That sure sounded like the little brother Ace had always told him about. If the news was anything to go off of he had not grown out of that character trait. No doubt Sabo continued to worry about his younger brother even now.

"So Mr. Whitebeard pirate how are things fairing for your assembled ranks?" Sabo asked politely shifting the conversation from whatever repetitive argument the two were having.

Marco frowned as he scanned his gaze over part of his crew. "We have been better." He admitted honestly. Understandably so, still it felt odd to say it out loud.

Sabo nodded tapping his chin thoughtfully, "Statistically speaking your group still has a lot of pull over the sea even if it's just in the name alone. Still the declining numbers coupled with territory loss is stretching your ranks too thin. Especially when you bring the recent dispute into consideration."

The crew stared at him dumbly for a second, forgetting to blink like a group of morons. Marco retained his posture although startled. He didn't even want to know how Sabo knew about their recent mission nor how it ended in disaster.

His crew was less graceful as they gapped at him, "How do you even know that?"

"It's my job to know," He said giving them a courteous smile.

"As what? A secret agent?"

There was a moment of silence as the whitebeards contemplated how close to the mark that may have been.

Luffy was the only one lost as he turned to Sabo for confirmation.

"They need more alliances and stronger connections," Sabo paraphrased not even needing to look at his brother to know he was confused.

Luffy laughed at that, "Is that all? Well we will be your friends then."

"You mean allies?"

"No that doesn't feel right," He shook his head. "I'd rather be friends."

Marco blinked in surprise at the suddenness. "Are you sure?" It was kind of a big commitment to make so suddenly. "There's not a lot to be gained now a days."

"Who cares," Luffy insisted. "Were friends."

"You and your five thousand followers," Sabo teased. The Whitebeard pirates did not find this nearly as amusing as they did yet another double take.

"Are you serious? How did you manage that?"

Luffy just shrugged as if it was no big deal, "I dunno. We worked together to take down Mingo and the next thing I knew they were being all weird and asking to follow me around."

"That's amazing kid! You got yourself a fleet."

Marco watched in amusement as Luffy pouted at being called a kid. After everything he accomplished age quickly became irrelevant. Still after hearing Ace talk about his little brother they were hard wired to think of him as a kid.

"Not really," He told them. "I said no."

"WHY!" Came the unanimous cry from everyone but Sabo and Marco.

"Well I doubt we would all fit on the sunny. Plus I don't want five thousand people following me around!"

"So you told them to get lost?"

"I tried to but they wouldn't listen. They said they were going to do what they wanted... "Now we are friends." He said brightly leaving a huge gap in the story.

Honestly when you put it like that Marco couldn't blame the kid. The huge strategical advantage aside he wouldn't want that many people following him around either. He bet Ace would have done the same thing in his position.

"What about you Sabo?" Luffy looked at his brother brightly. "It will be fun."

"I'm sure," Sabo mused with a fond smile. "I can't make promises for my boss."

The thought sent a shiver down Marco's spine. He didn't even want to know who he worked for.

"But Ace seemed really happy when he was with you guys and for that you have my thanks so I'm in too."

Marco didn't quite know what to say luckily enough his crew mates did.

"Thank you!"

"Don't mention it!" Luffy's smile glowed like the sun while Sabo's simmered like hot fire. Each reminding him in different ways of Ace.

He had initially seen Ace in Luffy during the war. The way the younger one nearly killed himself trying to save his brother. He started impossible fights, used pure brute force to win and was willing to sacrifice everything he had to achieve his goal. Whitebeard had even commented on how his pig headedness reminded him of a younger Ace. But most importantly he had a way of drawing people in, getting them to cheer for him and risk everything to help him. Just like Ace did. After Ace had gotten used to the Whitebeard crew a little more he started opening up to them, dropping his hostile and shielded exterior. His smiles were open and bright just like Luffy's and he was an honest and trustworthy person who would fight tooth and nail for his friends and what he believed in. He would fall asleep in his food then wake up and continue eating like nothing happened, he could start a conversation with total strangers and by the end gain lifelong friends. It was all these things Marco saw in Luffy.

But unlike Luffy Ace had a darker side. He was wary and distrustful. This was how he acted when they first met him. In those days he never smiled or laughed, certainly not at them at least. He was fixated on killing pops in order to fix whatever hole was inside of him left by the outside world. He downright refused help from anyone insisting to do everything on his own no matter how impossibly the task. Although he did not know him that well these were the things he saw in Sabo. The blonde was an open book when talking to Luffy but it was clear he was wary of them, not giving them his trust just yet. Just like Ace had been. He choose to rely on himself rather than those around him. All that self-doubt and anger Ace carried was inherited by Sabo. Only the blonde was better at hiding it. But he couldn't trick Marco. Despite the limited interaction Marco had always been good at reading people. Plus he had been around Ace so much that distinguishing his emotions on other people's faces was easy. Although he knew the three weren't related they had a startling number of similarities. So much so it surprised him.

"That ought to make Ace happy," Sabo said with his wry smile.

"I'm sure he is smiling down from heaven," Marco said sarcastically trying to ignore the twinge in his heart as he said it.

Sabo and Luffy paused for a second to look at each other.

"He's not in heaven," Luffy told them after a moment of silence.

"Then where is he?"

"Hell," Sabo and Luffy said together.

"Why do you think he is in hell?" Izo said horrified.

"Where do you think he is?" Sabo asked curiously.

"Oh I don't know HEAVEN! He was a good person you know."

"He was wasn't he!"

"So why would you wish him to hell?

"It's where he will be happy," Luffy told them simply once more crossing his legs under him.

"Why's that?" Marco asked breaking his silence.

"Ace will get so bored in heaven." Luffy told them. "He would probably get kicked out for starting a fight.

"Plus hells full of fire and everyone knows he does love fire." Sabo cut in. "I bet he would fit in a lot better there. He can eat with his mouth open all he wants and no one will stop him."

The whitebeard pirates stopped to consider as they had not thought of that.

"Actually though," Haruta said thinking it over. "I think you may have a point.

Imagining Ace with a halo and angel wings was laughable.

Sabo smiled, a genuine one this time directed at the pirates. "Well, it has been fun but didn't you have to be somewhere Luffy?"

"Ahh!" The teen jumped up suddenly reminded of his pressing task. "Why didn't you say something sooner?"

"And miss out on all this" Sabo gestured around them laughing. "No way."

Luffy gave the Whitebeard pirates a wave, "When I see you again you have to tell me stories about Ace kay?"

"See you later Sabo," Luffy yelled as he dashed off at top speed down the bustling alleyway. No doubt whatever he had to do was quite pressing and time sensitive. Hard to imagine he forgot about it in the first place.

"By later he means?"

"Who knows," Sabo said standing up taller. "Whenever we run into each other again. Hopefully soon. Anyways I should get going as well. It was a pleasure to meet you Mr. Commander." He said politely tipping his top hat at the group. "I'm sure you have something important to get back to as well. Like Lu said next time meet I would love to hear some good stories about our favorite idiot."

"Same here, I'm sure you have some good ones."

The mere thought on the dirt he had on his brother brought a smile to his face as he bid the pirates goodbye heading off down the street.

Marco watched him go feeling a smile on his own lips. Those two really did remind him of Ace. He was the only person who could get Marco out of a bad mood. After his death he hadn't given it a whole lot of thought but he missed the way the teen could make him smile when he didn't feel like it. It was good to know the brothers had the same magic touch. He felt a pang of sadness, he would never get to see the three of them in action together. No doubt it was quite a sight.

He had gone into the ally to determine if it was indeed Luffy, perhaps remind himself of his deceased friend. Instead he had gained two new al….friends. Despite being closer to Ace then anyone they were chipper and upbeat even going as far as to insult him, like he was still with them. Marco bet that if Ace was still alive this is exactly how he would want it. He could almost hear the hot head defending himself to his teasing brothers. Ace's death hadn't exactly been his decision. What was his decision was to save his little brother. The crew knew that and they respected it greatly. After all defending family was a Whitebeard pirate's primary role. Not that it was even any of their business but it was nice to see that Luffy was using that life to live to the fullest. More so then anybody Marco had ever met before. With Sabo in the mix Marco doubted the two of them were ever going to let Ace's memory be forgotten. Or even rest in peace. With all the death that had been surrounding them recently it was nice to focus on the living for a little while.

"Alright," He said turning to his crew, "We have to get going as well."

He ignored the grumbles as he led the way back to the ship. It was amazing how one conversation had so much effect on the crew. After so many failures they needed some good news. They had gained some allies but Marco couldn't seem to care at the moment. Friends as Luffy put it were more important. He was looking forwards to running into them again. Hopefully they would share those stories like they promised. But at the moment he had to focus on his family. He figured it was finally time to get them back together. After all what was more important than family?

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 **Tadah! It's four in the mourning and I'm going to bed. But I hope you liked it. Its sad Marco never got to meet Sabo so I wrote this in place of that. Hopefully it wasn't too cheesy. My brain is so fried I'm not sure it was written very well. Anyways please tell me what you think!**


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